


somewhere beyond the sea; someone waiting for me

by honeybadgers



Series: all the things left unsaid [1]
Category: Formula E RPF
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Angst, Fluff, LMAO, M/M, Multi, fairytale, help so much drama, merman, much angst, nvm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 09:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11288577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeybadgers/pseuds/honeybadgers
Summary: Sometimes it starts when everything is falling apart.That is the case here.





	somewhere beyond the sea; someone waiting for me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [montecarlos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/montecarlos/gifts).



> this fic is for sarah because she basically dragged me through all of it and i wouldn't know if i was able to finish this fic without her. this is for you <3
> 
> title taken from 'beyond the sea' by frank sinatra

He considers celebrating his birthday at the sea would be a very special and unique occasion. It kind of was. People were cheering and celebrating and congratulating him and lots of booze and beer was there. No one was actually standing very stable on its feet, everyone was intoxicated. At least if you exclude the younger guys picking up the shards of glass, who look frightened to the bone, afraid that one moment, they step on a shard of glass. The thought of that doesn’t please them. He understands.

But not only because of the alcohol flowing in their veins made it possible to not stand stable, but also the ship was constantly swaying over the waves.

Ant wonders, for a short moment, a whim, if the ship will survive it. The cracking of the wooden ship doesn't make him completely at ease.

But the disturbing thought is quickly forgotten when someone accidentally bumps against him, and some liquor falls on Ant’s clothes. But he doesn't really mind since the glassy and red eyes of the person in front of him indicate that the amount of alcohol flowing inside him is high. There is a quick apology, because spilling on the prince isn't something that you want to be known for before he stumbles away again.

He lets it be for now. It is his birthday anyway. Yet he wonders why he is still sober. He doesn't feel like forcing himself onto the drinks, but it is noticeable. The one, for who this party actually held, the centre of it, just stands a bit quietly in a corner, observing everything. From the reckless sea to the people. He likes it that way.  
And in his mind he considers the possibility of upcoming danger from the seas. Again. And with every scenario that comes along with it, he feels more depressed.

And he realises that he should be happy and not worry about those kind of things. It is his birthday, for heaven’s sake. _Loosen yourself up._

And he does, he takes shot after shot and he feels himself getting slightly dizzy. He feels himself standing more and more unstable on his feet, he feels himself hanging on some crewmembers to prevent himself from falling.

_Just one night one night one night._

He slightly, vaguely remembers a statue, cheekbones made out of stone, collarbones sticking out beautifully. He vaguely remembers the laughter of the crew. He vaguely remembers a wave crashing against the ship.

He remembers the painful impact the water had on his body, like it was squeezing him completely flat. He remembers being laid on wood. A boat.  
He remembers his dog. He remembers falling all over again.

Then it is black.  
_________________________________________________________________________

He has always liked the darkness of the sea, so unpredictable, so reckless, so mysterious. That makes it so beautiful.

In the cave, a dark and mysterious yet pretty place, is the place where Robin hides all the fascinating stuff he often finds on the bottom of the sea. Things lost because of shipwrecks, things left abandoned in the sea.

He loves it.

The treasures are varying, from a ‘dinglehopper’ to this fascinating thing with this beautiful face of someone he doesn't know. But he likes the way the face looks, the way the cheeks are painted, lips in beautiful shades of red.

He gently touches the painting, tracing the lips with his fingertips. He swims a bit further away from the painting, admiring as a whole piece. Admiring everything he has yet found up to this day.

“Come on! Let's go back!”

Dani calls him. He, however, is a bit more afraid in the dark than Robin is usually. He also is more afraid of Robin’s father if they will be home too late.

And Robin wants to follow him, along with it remembering that everything will be fine for the both of them. But something stops him suddenly. Dani looks in confusion before he notices it too.

A big dark shadow is passing them, and it darkens the sea, it darkens the purple scales on Robin his tail. It darkens the sea, even more dark than it already is, with these conditions.

And curiosity takes the overhand.

He swims and he rushes up, towards the shadow. And somewhere underneath him, he vaguely hears Dani shouting - first to come back, the a moment of silence and finally to wait for him. But the fish can't keep up with the bigger, more powerful tail of the merman. Also the factor of curiosity that drives Robin doesn't put Dani in his favor.

Somewhere up there, the unfamiliar touch of the air hits Robin. And he watches in curiosity, he observes his surroundings. It is a rough night. The waves are everywhere and so high and so rough and he wonders how it is even possible that it hasn't sunk yet.

By ‘it’ as in the magnificent massive ship that is swaying over the waves, over the sea. He has seen them several times but none of them were as massive, as huge as this one is.

Robin tries to pull himself up on the ship, enough to see things, but not that high enough that other people might see him. He looks and he watches. He sees people stumbling over their feet. And Robin wonders how it feels to have feet and stumble over them. But he has a hard time holding on to the ship. The waves crash and it pulls on his body -almost like the sea is calling him- and he can't hold on any longer. And he desperately tries to, but he can't. His fingers slip away and he ends up in the water again.

And Dani just hit the fresh touch of air when Robin fell back again in the water

_Oh god, better be okay._

Right after the merman fell back into the water, the ship capsizes. Everyone is rushing feverently in a state of panic and adrenaline towards the safety boats, hanging on both sides of the ship, hanging dangerously.

And once everyone has settled in the boats and started to row away, someone jumps back into the water, back to the already sinking boat. There is shouting, screaming that he should come back, but they realise they won't be able to convince him to go back. And once they realise it is a lost case they row away. One boat stays for a moment, but the conditions allow them not to stay for long, so they also leave.

The person has already arrived to the boat, pulls himself on the deck, and he grabs something white and fluffy and he holds it closely into his arms. And just as he wants to leave the deck, the explosion happened.

The ball of fluff just left the person’s arms right before the explosion happened and the ball, apparently a dog, jumped out of pure fear in the water, and he swims away from the ship, or rather - what is left of it - as fast as his small paws allow the dog to.

The other one however is not so lucky. The person is thrown off the ship and he hits the water with such a powerful force that both Robin and Daniel are absolutely shocked and can't move, at least how much the conditions of the water allow them to stay motionless. All the boats are already far gone.

Robin is the first one to react.

He swims to the floating body. He doesn't care if someone might see him, which will probably be impossible, since no one dares to set sail in these conditions.

Except them, though.

It is difficult. Robin realises he needs to find a position in which makes it possible to not force himself, to not lose too much energy, but he also needs to not keep him underwater. It is a bit clumsy, but he finally manages to get a hold of the person that keeps him above the water and doesn't feel too heavy for himself. One hand is embracing the middle, Robin uses his other hand the stabilise the head.

The person starts to become pale, and the lips start to become blue. It is a pretty boy, but Robin has no time to think more of it. There is no time to dwell.

The waves start to become higher, they splash continually in his face but he keeps going. He refuses to stop, he can't stop. Not when there is a life at stake.

The rain hits his face so hard and every raindrop feels like something way more painful, like the stings of sea hedgehogs.

_Keep going, don't stop, keep going, don't stop._

And after what feels like hours and hours in the water, many stings, numb muscles, sea salt and many words of encouragement to himself, he sees the shore. A shore at least, he is so so so tired. He is so tired, but seeing the small stroke of land gives him a motivation strong enough to give himself the amount of energy just enough to ignore the pain in his muscles, to give his tail the last push to go.

He drags them on the sand, and Robin gives himself the permission to rest, because he has been swimming for so long, he can't feel a thing. He falls onto the sand, trying to rest his muscles. He can only feel his heartbeat and panted breathing. The sound is everywhere, it is in his throat his ears, it is everywhere. It is the only thing he can hear.

_Boom boom boom boom boom boom._

Once the intensity of the sound starts to decrease, he pulls himself back up again. He watches the surroundings, where has he ended up? He doesn't know. The only thing he can see is blue. Blue of the sea, blue of the sky. There is, far away, the sound of seagulls. On the far right, there are some cliffs, dark brown, like the color of the sand deep underneath the sea.

And then he notices it.

It is already morning.

How long has he already been gone?

Robin knows that he should leave. Being away for so long, that certainly will cause trouble back home.

But he stays, he wants to see the face of the person he had saved. Just one glance, a glance of the human, of the human world.

He positions himself right above the man. Robin feels a slight whisk of air, soft and steady. He is alive and breathing.

Be careful.

He watches his face. He carefully maps out the lines of his face, his eyes, his lips. He cherishes everything. He cherishes the light pink scar near the hairline. He cherishes the light freckles on his face.

It is absolutely stunning.

But he sees something that just downright frightens him. He sees the slight parting of his eyes. And he panics. His heartbeat is already rising and he starts to see blurry.

Go go go go go go.

He pushes himself back into the water and swims away.

Hoping he wouldn't notice his presence.

But deep inside, he hopes he did.

Because the boy is stuck in his mind, and he won't leave.

He doesn't want it to leave.

Because it is a part of the human world that he might never even reach. So he clings on to the next best thing.  
_________________________________________________________________________

Too bright.

He tries to open his eyes, but the amount of bright light makes him flinch. He tries to move his arm, but it feels completely dead, not responding to everything. He feels a gentle brush against his cheeks. Fingertips?

Who is there?

He wants to move his legs, open his eyes, see the person hovering right above his face. But everything seems to be locked up. Not responding, not doing anything he wants them to do, like they are far away, living in the body of somebody else.

But all of a sudden, his eyes open. Slowly, surely, yet completely unexpected, coming from nowhere, First it is white, completely utterly white, white like the pearls that the fishermen sometimes find in the sea. He sees his surroundings again, and he immediately hears a splash in the water. Pushing himself up again, with heavy arms, that is what he does. Ant sees, far away, a face. A very short moment, gone in a blink of an eye.

Brown hair.

That is the only thing he could see before the unknown person dives back into the sea with a gentle splash, away from anyone’s sight, almost like it never even existed.

Right before a “Thank you,” could pass his lips.

And now he realises that his arms have been shaking heavily. With a loud thump he falls back onto the sand. And it is black again, as dark as the night.  
____________________________________________________________________

He wakes up and he doesn’t know where he is, at first. But then he feels the familiar soft sheets, the shirts that let him breathe, the way the sun is shining on his face. And that is when he knows. That is when he knows that he is home.  
That is when he wonders, was everything even real. Did it actually happen? Or was it just a dream?

It wasn’t just a dream, otherwise he wouldn't be here in the first place. But his thoughts feel so torn, in shards, fragmental, delirious, and there is so much that he remembers, but not enough to connect all the memories together.

“We thought you were dead,” someone says, and Ant can’t directly place a name on him, because it all seems so far away from him, still lost in his thoughts.

“So did I, actually,” he says in response, a bit wary. The person doesn’t notice it. Maybe because he is too ecstatic to find out that he is alive.

“What happened? I heard the ship capsized and you wanted to fetch your dog and then there was an explosion and you were completely lost. We found you on the beach, unconscious and wet and full of sand.”

“I don’t really know what happened.”

Half a lie. Half the truth.

He knows the first part, he doesn’t know the part after that. But he remembers, fragmentarily yet still sort of complete, the time he was laying on the beach, before he was found.

The boy with the brown hair.

He couldn’t even say thank you.  
_________________________________________________________________________

_Too late._

_He is absolutely extremely late._

While swimming back he mentally prepares himself for the lecture that inevitably will come from his father. And of course his annoying sisters will listen to every word that their father will say to their youngest brother.

It won’t be gentle. If his father’s lecture will be less strict and angry than expected, he always will have his sisters that will haunt him with this forever.

Procrastinating this won’t work. It will only make it even worse.

Robin feels his chances increasing. He keeps swimming, he keeps pushing.

Continue continue continue.

When the familiar silhouette of the palace is standing there, far away, there is a sigh of relief passing his lips. He is almost back home.

His presence doesn't go unnoticed. He feels the stared of people burning through his skin. He feels their judgement. Their judgements about the youngest child, the heir, who has been so irresponsible ever since. He feels tiny again. But he doesn't want to hide because this is something he loves. He loves the search of new places, still unwritten here, still unspoken.

The stares don't stop. When he enters the palace the guards look at him in wonder. They probably have seen, or have at least heard, about his father being furious of the absence of his youngest son.

The hope for a decent talk is officially gone. He has also seen Daniel again with a both worried and relieved face. He told Robin that immediately after he swam away to save the human, he realised that he couldn't keep up he swam back home.

“It is not going to be nice. I heard that your father is absolutely furious about you being gone. He demanded several guards to look for you and he still is mad. He just heard you are back again so you need to be careful.”

He is not. His father is mad for being too late, missing the festival. And that is something that Robin can deal with. But when his father mentions the suggestion that the blame is on ‘his absurd fascination for humans, those crazy people’ he can't help but explode. Because this is not just an interest that his father is judging, it feels like he is judging his own son and that is his breaking point. Hurtful words are said, insults are spread. It turns into screaming.  
A door is slammed.

And suddenly it stops.

Silent whispers, whispers that almost can not be heard.

“Did I punish him too much?”  
“No, absolutely not sire. He is just a headstrong teenager who needs some manners and supervision.”  
“Would you mind to look out for him, to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?”  
“At your service.”  
_____________________________________

The door being smashed is the last thing that can be heard. Then there is silence. They depart, they endure, they try to deal with it. The elder one sits and thinks, the other one is heading towards his familiar comfort zone. A place in which he can calm down in peace.

Words hurt, and as much as Robin likes to think that they don't hurt, they do.

Words have the power to destroy. They have the power to crush and tear apart everything you love. To ridicule. Because that is what happened. One ridiculed a passion, the other said words he would like to take back, later on. Not now.

He sits and cries and thinks. And he doesn't know what to feel.

But there is one thing he knows for sure.

He doesn't regret a thing he did.

It makes him even more keen for more.

_Why are you so interested in them?_

“You okay?”

_Why are you so interested in these vile creatures? They can only cause harm._

“Not really.”

_They killed your mother._

“Can I come?”

_You are such an idiot._

Dani approaches him, carefully. Afraid to hurt him.

You are the heir, get yourself some responsibility.

“Come here.”

And then Robin starts to spill, he starts to let everything out he had been keeping to himself for the past 24 hours. He tells about his frustration and sadness of his father not understanding the thing he likes, the thing he is so interested and invested in. The look of disappointment.

“Is it weird? That I am interested in people that are not my kind?”  
“No.”  
“I only want to see the human world.”  
Silence.  
“Do you understand?”

They both do not notice the two shadows going away with the speed of lightning.  
_________________________________________________________________________

“Seen anything interesting?”  
“Definitely, yes.”  
“So why are you hesitating? Just tell you idiots!”  
“The youngest is not happy with his father.”  
“So? What is the purpose of that?”  
“He wants to see the human world.”  
“What is this for... Aah. That is wonderful. That is absolutely amazing. The ultimate chance. The chance to take revenge. By letting his youngest son slipping out of his reach. You geniuses.”  
“What can we do now?”  
“Some good talking about me to him. Convince and get him addicted to the idea of it actually happening.”

Silence.

“Now go, you idiots! Let’s get our revenge!”

The eels swim away, as fast as they can. Until only bubbles are left that remind the fact that they were there.

“Well. Poor you.”  
_________________________________________________________________________

“I have always felt like he has never understood it. Like he never wanted to understand it. Maybe he still blames me. That my curiosity became her death. Maybe that is why he still is so overprotective over me. But I still don't really know why he hates my interest so much. I don't understand.”

Daniel listens. He lets him speak. He lets him cry. He lets him spill. Because he knows that this is the best way to comfort him.

It breaks his own heart to see him like this.

But suddenly he hears some tripping. Quietly, almost going unnoticed. But not to Dani because the tripping is a sound he is more familiar to than he likes to say.

And Dani has been hit with an idea. While Robin had been gone being the knight in shining armour, he himself found something at the bottom of the sea and carefully placed it here.

“Hey, I wonder if it would help but there is something I want to show you. Maybe to cheer you up. Come.”

And they swim towards the surprise Robin will face.

And it definitely is a surprise.

It is the statue of the guy Robin saved earlier and he is absolutely positive about that. Robin stays here a bit glassy but he is slowly bringing the piece back together and he saves the collarbones, the eyebrows, the face and he saves everything in his memory.

“I...do not deser-”

“What is this?”  
“Fuck off, di Grassi. We don’t need you here right now.”  
“What is this, I repeat.”  
“Stop bossing around for once and let him be.”  
“I will otherwise tell your father kid!”

That makes Robin shift slightly, stirring on his position. And he looks at the scene that was happening in front of him. He almost looks like a ghost, even paler than normal and his eyes are red-rimmed. He stares at them a bit glassy, at least less than earlier, like he doesn’t really know what is actually going on.

“Just...don’t.”  
“Why?”  
“I know how keen you are on it, to tell, to spill. But just don’t.”  
“You won’t understand the consequences it will have, not just for me but also for you. You will be the one my father will release his anger on, after he will be done with me. What will you gain with it? He already ridiculed it, but if he sees this place he will be so undeniably angry that can’t be described in words, like never. Just let me be, for a while. A little moment, and then I will leave.”

With reluctance and after some complaining the crab leaves the grotto.

“And Dani, you have listened to me crying and being frustrated, and I am grateful for that, and also for the gift you gave me, my friend. But just let me be for a few minutes, to think about it on my own.”

With reluctance and a heavy heart the fish also leaves the grotto.  
___________________________________________________________________________

This is the point of weakness the eels waited for. Amlin and Andretti look with knowing smiles to one another. They waited for what felt like hours for this and this is the chance and it can’t go wrong right now. Not now.

He is now on his own, and there is no one who will think suspicious about it. It is easier to convince him when he is on his own. They wait for a moment, until the crab and the fish are out of sight.

“We heard you crying.”

The boy has his face buried in his arms and almost looks defeated.

“Go away.”

For a moment the eels say nothing and just stare at the collection in wonder. After some muffled sounds in the merman’s arm he starts to look in curiosity as why the eels are looking at it.

“Beautiful collection you have.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Do you like it?”  
“Definitely yes,” It feels nice that there is someone else besides Dani who also is interested in his collection and he feels his guard falling down.  
“What is the item you are the proudest of?”

Robin thinks for a moment, because there are so many things he is happy about. He feels his sadness decreasing, starting to enthusiastically talk, through the red-rimmed eyes. The sadness of the fight between him and his father is just a background melody, enough to be heard, but not enough to actually understand what is happening. The real music is his passion burning and boiling inside him. So many things which still make him wonder and still make him more curious.

“Probably on of my first discoveries. A dinglehopper, I don’t know how I am supposed to call it otherwise, and this work of art of a person unknown to me.”  
“You really are interested in humans, right?”  
“I definitely am. I would like to see how they are like, what they do, what they eat. Just how they live their life, with legs.”  
“What if there is an opportunity to actually do that?”  
“Seriously?”  
“There is a way. And we can help you with that. If you will come with us though.”

And Robin does.  
___________________________________________________________________________

“You know he needs to get himself some responsibility.”  
“You can't force him to do that.”  
“He must! He should realise that.”  
“What if he doesn't want to? That you are shoving this whole you are the next heir straight into his face without asking what he thinks about it?”

Lucas doesn't respond, but instead walks away. And Daniel becomes so angry that he almost wants to flip that idiot upside down, so that he has no possibility of going anywhere.

But he doesn't, because the following words frighten him to the bone.

“Where is he?”

And it is not demanding or anything like that, it is a soft voice, frightened and worried.

He isn't in the grotto anymore.

“Look!”

Far away, three silhouettes could be seen. The middle one has the well-known and familiar purple tail.

“Follow him!”  
“Wait for me, Abt"

_______________________________________________________________________

The eels accompany him closely, closer than he would like to admit. He sometimes feels a slight brush against his body, against his tail. He feels himself getting more and more uncomfortable and he feels relieved from the stress when they say they have arrived.

“There she is, the one who can make it possible.”

They end up somewhere else, at a place unknown to him. He doesn’t know this place, it is dark and gloomy and has a dark atmosphere around it, something sinister.

And indeed there she is.

She is a memorable person, one you wouldn't forget so easily. The top part of her body is like any normal mermaid. But then it changes. Where there should be a tail, she has the body like a octopus.

She looks pretty, if you ignore the lower part of her body. She a sleek, long brown hair and has the face of a siren who will inevitably lure you into the hole and eat your whole heart out.

“What is your problem love?”  
“I want to have legs and see the world.”  
“Simple request love. And easy to do, actually.”

“I need two things though to make it possible.”  
“What?”  
“A hair of you and a word coming out of your mouth.”

Is it that easy?

So he does. He grabs a small hair and pulls it off his head. First part is done.

“Is there a specific word I should say?”  
“Mhm. Yes, actually.”

“Heartbreak.”

She grabs a necklace and stretches it out in her hands.

“Say it again.”  
“Heartbreak.”

The words are sucked into the necklace with such a bright yellow light.

“Before I will cast the spell. There are several things you should know.”  
“You have four days on land. Four days to travel and see the world.

There is one condition.

You can not be kissed.”

“If you are kissed, or kiss someone, you will belong to me. The spell will immediately be broken, no buts, no getaways. On the contrary, if you follow the rules, the spell will just be over after four days. So remember that once the spell is over, you should be under water.  
Otherwise you will die.”

“Understood?”  
“Yes.”  
“Then I am ready.”

And before the bright light strikes, he hears voices.

Dani and Lucas.  
Oh god.

And that is when the pain strikes. It was agonising. The process of the splitting tail is so painful. It literally feels like his tail, one he has been so proud of for so long, is completely torn into two. And just when he thought it would be over, then there was something that was way more painful, mainly because it went so slow.

The scales, so shiny and purple, sink into his skin. This is worse. Much more worse. It feels like he is stabbed a thousand times again and again and again.

Then all of a sudden, the pain stops.

“You are done.”

Then it is black.

* * *

 

Take a walk, they recommended.

You have been lying in bed for too long and you need some fresh air and your muscles need to loosen, they said.

But of course he can not walk there on his own, so he is accompanied by someone he doesn't really know.

They walk in silence, neither of them feel like talking. They just walk, and Ant cherishes the way the wind plays gently with his hair, how the sand feels underneath his shoes. The smell of freedom, the sound of freedom.  
He realises it could have never happened when the stranger wasn't there.

“Look!”

He is pulled out of his thoughts of the loud words coming next from him, breaking down his thoughts like glass.

There are several people lying on the beach, and the more they head, or rather run, towards them, the more they can notice. Three people, soaking wet. Traces of brown and black hair.

Shipwreck?

No, they are not dressed like they were on a ship.

Their clothes are completely ragged

What if they were living on a deserted island and managed to escape?

And suddenly he sees the faces.

The one whose body is directly in front of him has several dark stubbles, making it a contrast to the lightly tanned caramel skin.  
The second one, someone who is lying a bit further away has jet black hair that is so wet that several strings of hair stick on his face. His skin is slightly tanned and a dark beard is spreading over his face.

And one of them feels oddly familiar and he doesn’t know why.

It is the one who lies away the farthest.  
His hair is dark brown, and he doesn't know whether that is his real hair color because it is soaked. He has several freckles on his face, which stand out on his pale skin. His nose is a bit sharp and slightly crooked. He has some stubble, but not as much as the other two.

The question stays stuck in his mind, even when they are brought back to the palace for recovery.  
Robin wakes up at a place he doesn’t know with a feeling that isn’t familiar and that takes his breath away.  
He is laying in, on, around something soft, he is surrounded by everything soft. And it feels kind of frightening like he can not breathe. He pushes himself slightly up, so that he is in a sitting position and that he doesn’t feel like he is gasping for air so much.

There is a slight knock of the door, almost unnoticeable.

“Come in,” he says with a soft voice, almost inaudible. It sounds vulnerable, insecure, fragile and curious altogether.

“How are you doing?”  
“I...am fine, I suppose.”  
“We found you with two other people on the beach, wet and cold but still alive. Do you have any idea what happened?”  
“...No, not really. It is all just a blur. “

He knows.  
Once the guy leaves, he starts trying to stretch himself in the bed. He notices that he is wearing a long hemd, probably from someone who is way too tall. To get used to the feeling of having legs, of having toes. To get used to the gentle flesh that used to be a tail. He traces the build of his legs with his fingers and he suddenly notices a small pink line at the inside of his calf.

He steps out of the bed, feels the ground with his toes. He feels the structure of the wooden floor, its carves, its shape. And it is almost like another piece of art, again so undiscovered and so unique.

He is standing on his feet and gently walks towards the mirror who is not that far away from the bed. He inspects himself, the way his body is built, the gentle shape of his legs. The thing he likes the most is when he wiggles his toes, the small tiny things that are connected to his legs and to his body.

He is so absorbed to the new body he is possessing right now that he does not hear the knock on the door. He does not hear the door being opened, it cracks a bit.

“Sorry to bother you but are yo- oh.”

Robin finally stares at the person.  
It is the guy he saved and he doesn't know how to react. There is no incoherent word coming out of his mouth, he just stands there and nothing else. There is no oxygen coming in or out his lungs. He can not breathe. It feels like he is holding a sign that says ‘Hey lol you are looking cute today. And did you know I saved you actually?’. It feels like he immediately knows his complete life story. What he was, what he did, what had happened to him.

He knows that this is not real, he doesn't know and he doesn't see it. But the internal fear of being exposed is so strong, so deciding. The only thing that he can do is holding the door handle, muttering an ‘I’m fine,’ and closing the door in his face.

There is immediate regret laying down on his chest but he knows it is idiotic to open the door again.

So he waits. He waits for a sound. A sigh. Footsteps. Protest.

But nothing is coming. There is silence for a long time and the longer the silence, the heavier the weight is becoming.

But suddenly there is a sound. Very quiet, very subtle. Like the wind slightly blowing in your hair on a windless day.

The sound of fading footsteps and that is when Robin knows he is gone.

The weight is still there.He doesn't speak to him for the rest of the day. It is a bit of a scary idea, and the fear that he knows is still there.

When he sees both Lucas and Dani that afternoon, he is both unsurprised and surprised. Unsurprised because they still are the same and avoid each other with a passion. First it was Dani. His bubbly personality is still there and Robin is very glad about that. It is some source of comfort. And he also looked good. He never imagined how his friend would look like if he was human, but when he thinks about it, this matches very well.  
And of course, after him, came Lucas.  
And also he was still the same.  
Criticising him about being irresponsible and muttering to himself in how much trouble he will be.

He wants to hug them both, because he is not alone in this. And he is very grateful for that.”Do you know we have been invited for the dinner tonight?”

Oh no.

The usual questions came immediately after the announcement was made  
How to dress. How to act. How to react. What to eat.

“You seem like a completely stressed out person, a bit like Lucas is like often.”

Robin laughs and it cheers him up a bit but still the anxiety is there.

“I will help you. You need to look pretty hot for that cutie. You have the hots for him.”

Oh god, oh god. If this continues I will fall into a deep hole of feelings and I can not climb out of it. He doesn't know the conditions. Oh god, oh god.

He is so anxious that he doesn't know what is happening all around him and that he doesn't mind that Dani chooses his clothes, but he considers everything as pretty so Robin could even be dressed in girl's clothes and he would consider it pretty.

But it doesn't go that far. After he returned from the bath the clothes lie on his bed. He also tried to shower but it gave him such an uncomfortable feeling of claustrophobia that he decided to be in the bath because it reminds him a bit of the sea, the way the water surrounds his body like he is normally used to feel like.

The clothes are simple yet sophisticated. Dark blue suit. Just like everyone is dressed and Robin is glad for the choice because he looks normal.

He puts the suit on, but he doesn't know how to handle the tie so he calls Dani out for help.

“I have no idea how to do this, but I have been watching others doing this. Yes, I do look around this place.”

They try, but it doesn't work out that perfect. They hope that the people do not notice this.

They walk towards the diner is silence. If you exclude the fact that Dani announced that Lucas wouldn't be there.  
Robin is not surprised. He could have seen it coming. Besides he would have been much more surprised if he actually did join.

They arrive at the hall in which it is held and Robin feels so so so tiny. The room itself is fancy, with several marble statues, a bit like the one that is still in his grotto. Everything, everyone seems so important and powerful and he feels lost and tiny and invisible.

“Oh your tie, it is a bit ruffled up. Can I help you?”

Robin is speechless and is not able to protest. Especially when he sees the familiar face standing in front of him, he is just a bit taller than he is, which surprises Robin, because he thought he would be much taller. His hands gently correct the tie, like he has done so often probably, and he is so so so close to him, it is taking his breath away. He can count the tiny freckles on his nose and he can see his eyes, and it is a palette of so many shades of brown that he can not make a color out of it. He bets he also felt his fingertips sometimes tracing his neck, but that could be imagined.

“So, that is better.”

Robin stands there completely paralysed.

“Come.”

He didn't notice Daniel grabbed him by the arm to get him through all the people, through all their talks, stumbling sometimes over his feet. But once they see the dinner table, they both are surprised of the amount of seats are there. Fewer than they both expected to be. There are around eight seats. And Robin watches the people and he finally sees that there really are not many people. But it really felt like there were many.

Not willing to really talk to one of them, Robin awkwardly sits on one of the chairs. Deliberately not in the middle, but somewhere at the edge of the table. He doesn't feel like being in the centre, and indirectly in the centre of attention.

He awkwardly sits on his own, playing a bit with the things that lie in front of him. And suddenly he sees a familiar object lying opposite to him.

A _dinglehopper_.

He grabs it and without hesitation he slightly brushes his hair. It feels sort of comfortable, to see something so familiar.

Several seconds later, he feels an uncomfortable silence hanging around.

“What an idiot.”

Laughter.

Robin turns his head towards the source.  
And he really really wants to die on the spot.

They stare at him, look at him, laugh at him.  
Even the guy who he saved and helped him with his tie.  
The only one who doesn't do a thing is Daniel.  
But he doesn't defend either, but what can he do? He would have done the same, so he understands.

But the embarrassment is so huge that he just runs away, he runs away from the laughter, the pointing fingers. Somewhere in the corner of his eye, a tear starts to roll down.

He doesn't know where his legs lead him to, but why does he care about that? He shouldn't and he doesn't care. So when he finds himself at the beach he is filled of relief.

The sea can never disappoint.

He sits down on the sand, gets rid of the shoes, yanks his tie off and just sits. He listens to the calmth of the sea, the feeling of his toes in the sand. He focuses on that, the way his toes wiggle in the sand and that is the only thing he is thinking about.

But somewhere, he hears footsteps. He turns around, and he almost wants to scream that the person should go away, to leave him alone, but once he sees the person he can not allow himself to say anything against it.

“I'm sorry. I...think I should not disturb you. But I only want to say I am so sorry. I shouldn't have laughed.”

“Do you know how it is to be the centre, the source of pure comedy for people? It hurts, it stings without any mercy. And it doesn't matter how often I have heard it, it always hurts. It always did, it always will.”

“I shouldn't have laughed at you. I shouldn't have laughed because you do not deserve it. I shouldn't have laughed because no one deserves it. But the main reason I shouldn't have laughed is because I do not know you. I do not know your history, I do not know your story. And it is stupid to make assumptions about you. I am sorry. I just want to know who you are, what you like, what you dislike. You just...intrigue me.”

He offers his hand, and Robin sees the veins and the way his skin is colored and he really really wants to forgive. So he does. He meant this, he meant every word.

“I am Ant.”  
“I am Robin.”

* * *

 

It was only after dinner when Dani had gathered the courage necessary to tell Lucas about the whole incident.

“What did you do, for Neptune’s sake, Abt?”  
“We could have been discovered for who we really are.”  
“Well, that did not happen.”  
“But you were close enough for it.”

Silence

“And also, where is he now?”  
“Uhm…”  
“Don't you dare saying that you lost him.”

Silence

“Oh my God. We can not lose him. Not in this messy, ugly human world.”  
“But I don't believe he is that far away.”  
“We still need to find him before anyone else does.”  
They had sat there for several hours. It was a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, they were determining where their borders lay. What was okay? What would scare them away? First it are the usual questions. What's your name? How many brothers and sisters do you have? (Ant is an only child and he is stunned when Robin says he has six sisters). When it comes on the topic of favourite food, Robin slightly flinches when Ant says his favourite food is fish. The latter is afraid he has said something wrong, but to his relief it is just because Robin doesn't like to eat fish, he says.  
They laugh it away.

When it comes to hobbies, they get to the realisation that they both have a mutual love for the sea, its creatures within and unknown places.

“Where would you like to go to, if you had the chance?”

There is some silence, because Robin is thinking intensely, because where does he want to go to? It is hard to describe, he wants to do so much. He knows his time is limited but that can’t stop somebody from dreaming.  
And that is what he tells.

“I want to see the world, not only the people but also the places. I want to see the sunsets and the skies full of stars and I want to taste new things and I want to try new things and I want to do new things. I want to search for the unknown, the edge. I would do all of these things if I had the possibility.”  
“And you?”  
“I want to be free in choices, I don't want to be bound by some stupid rules people who have died a long time ago. I want to decide who my partner will be, I want to decide for myself what to do.”

They talk and talk and talk and the shorter guy slowly starts to drift into a peaceful sleep.

He looks cute. The way he sleeps. He is leaning on Ant his shoulder, his head fitting in the slightly taller man’s crook, between the neck and the shoulder. He slight snores, and while he is exhaling, his breath creating a breeze flowing around his neck. His lips are slightly parted and his hair is a bit messy.

He pulls him up, and since there is no response coming from him, there is no other option than lift him and take him to his room.

After struggling in which position fits the best, he comes to the conclusion that carrying him bridal style is the best and the least energy consuming option.

He hopes no one sees him this way though.

So he is quiet, careful. In his mind he is already mapping out the best route possible. The shortest, the ones where the fewest amount of people would catch them.

While walking, Robin is slightly stirring in his arms. He mumbles something Ant doesn't understand and Ant can not help but smile.  
He looks like he doesn't have any worries at all. Just peaceful. He is slightly smiling and snuggling in the crook of his elbow.  
He rather wants to stay here in this moment.  
But he can't. So he doesn't.  
He continues to walk, tuckes the sleeping man in his bed and walks away again.

“Of course, of course he would be here.”

Dani has been distracting Lucas long enough and he can't help but to sigh in relief. He wouldn't like to think how Lucas would have reacted if they haven't found him. And indeed, of course, he is at the one place where it wouldn't be surprising.

“Look at him. That idiot was-”

He is sleeping peacefully, his face looks peaceful and serene. He lies in a fetal position grabbing all the sheets possible with him, to hide himself.

“Let him sleep, please Lucas.”

Lucas doesn't respond, nor he says anything snarky.He is awoken by the light that falls into his face. And he dislikes it.  
He just wants to sleep and not to be getting out of this lovely hole of fluff.  
Then he remembers last night.  
The realisation comes crashing down, and it comes hard. He remembers everything. He doesn't know what to think, what to feel of it. He wants to panic, he also wants to be in a complete state of happiness. But altogether he feels numb. He doesn't know what to feel. He doesn't know what to think.

He gets out of his bed and dresses himself up. And for the rest of the day he is walking around, with no destination whatsoever.

He ends up in a room he doesn't know eventually.

There is a bed, a wardrobe, all the usual things like he has in his room. But it feels… different, more autocracy, like this is a room of an important person. The centrepiece of the room is the big black thing. He can not really describe it. It is big and black and has several keys on it. In beautiful shades of black and white. He gently scrapes with his fingertips over the keys and when a sound erupts all of a sudden he is taken aback by the waves of sound hitting him.

Did anyone hear it?

He wants to leave, to just avoid being caught. He is afraid he made too much noise, and besides, he is in a room he probably isn't allowed to be.

He walks, on his tiptoes to minimize the sound that is being made.

He grabs the cool handle of the door, his fingers holding the handle tight, and tries to gently open it.  
He didn't expect someone to actually open the door before he wanted. The door swings right towards him, unexpectedly.  
Robin is surprised and so is the person.

Ant.

“What are you doing here?”  
“...Nothing, I was just walking around and I ended up here but I didn't know it was yours...Sir.”  
“First of all, don't call me sir. Second, it is okay, I believe you. It is okay. I will tell no one about it.”

Ant stares intensely at him, his eyes bursting into his soul and Robin feels alive and vulnerable simultaneously. He can't place the look he has right now. Is it authority, is it curiosity, is it...need? Robin can't place it.

Eventually Robin can't deal with the stare, and he walks past him, scraping the upper arm of Ant.

“I need to go.”

Because that is what he does.

He always goes away.  
It is a game of avoidance and a game of attraction.  
They avoid each other during the day, so they wouldn't been seen together. They would meet in closed and abandoned rooms, where they talk and where there is more than talking. They never kiss, they always express. They express what they feel in dark corners, in dusty places.  
They meet up at night in which they talk and talk and laugh and hug and cuddle and sleep. They feel the breeze of the ocean, the smell of the plants. They exchange shy and gentle smiles. Slight blushes are creeping up their necks.

It turns into more. For the both of them.  
Ant is insecure, he is fragile. Because Robin can't deal with more and he wants more more more but he knows he can't get it without crossing borders.  
And Robin is so so so so afraid. He can not fall, he never can. The conditions are always hanging around in his mind, like the annoying poltergeist swaying around.

You can not kiss.

It is impossible but he can not resist.

He needs to stop. He needs to quit. He needs to get not this infatuated. They both need to stop with this. It can never work.

Somebody hears him.

They wait.

It should end with a climax.”I will leave tomorrow.”

Robin knows that is for the best, it is day three already and tomorrow he will turn back. It is inevitable, but it has to be done. He has already planned everything. He wants to leave at night, so no one will see him and ask questions. And where will he go to? He doesn't know where really, at least as far from Ant as possible.  
He will tell Dani and Lucas soon.

“Why?”

This is the question he dreaded so much. He already had an answer in mind. It will never work out. It never does. He has read it in the books he found.

It always ends in tragedy.

But he is speechless. He can't talk, he can't force himself to let the words pass his lips, to feel the air and the sound pass his lips.

He is stuck in words and he can only speak in his mind.

Please don't make it this hard for me.

“...It will never work out with us, Ant. You know that.”  
“Seriously, is that your reason. Is that your reason to leave? Because of me?”

He looks hurt and Robin feels so heavy. There is this weight inside him and he wants to take the words back but he can't he can't he can't.

A deep breath is released and inhaled and released. He is blinking with his eyes and Robin wonders for a moment if he is crying. That is not possible.

“Well, if you are going to leave tomorrow, can I at least show you a surprise?””This is a place I always like to go to when I am swimming. Then I am sitting on the rocks with all the flowers and just watch, I just look and admire. No one knows about his place. Well, now do you too.”

Ant has taken him with a boat to the surprise. It gives Robin feelings of nostalgia. Ant doesn't know but it all started with a boat and it will all end with a boat probably.  
How ironic.

Ant has been talking about this place they are heading to ever since they left the docks. People stared at them, but since it is the prince they don't ask questions. They never would.

Robin is in love the way he is talking. He loves the way he enthusiastically uses his hands while he releases the oars.  
Ant is in love the way he is expressing his curiosity. In the back of his mind the words still repeat, like an annoying headache.

I will leave tomorrow  
It will never work out with us.

He tries to forget it. He focuses on Robin’s eyes, his cheekbones, the slight blush on it. It fades, slowly, surely.

He talks constantly, he tries to fill up a potential emptiness. He tries to distract himself.

He notices himself relaxing once he realises he is getting close to the place he wants to go to. The idea of the flowers and the bright clear blue water calms him.

“Hey, close your eyes.”  
“Why?” Robin asks shyly.  
“It is a surprise, eh?”

The eyes flutter shut.

Ant rows quietly, gently. He likes the sound, or rather the lack of it. The serene, the peaceful.

“Open your eyes.”

He does and it is so beautiful. He looks in wonder at the change of the face in front of him. The way the features change. The wrinkles disappear, the eyes light up, the way he seems to settle himself in the boat. He is looking at everything Ant already knows. The flowers hanging and coming out of all the holes. The works of art the water have made over all the million years.

Ant is only staring at Robin.

Would it be that much of an issue? To lean in?

He doesn't know. So he waits.

When Robin starts to stare at Ant again, there is still the shimmer of wonder in his eyes.

It is amazing.

That is when he doesn't care.  
That is when he leans in.  
He closes his eyes and eagerly waits for the touch.  
It doesn't come though.

The boat bumps against a rock and they are paralysed by the surprise of it. It is too awkward.

They don't dare to look at each other. The blush, the shade of red, is creeping up their necks and cheeks.

“Shall we go back?”  
“Yes. Thank you for showing this to me.”

Robin smiles and Ant can not help but to smile in return.He is tapping with his shoes on the floor. He is nervous. Is this the right decision?

To distract himself he looks at his feet. Feet he will not have anymore tomorrow.He feels sad at the idea. They leave something behind, something that meant so much for them. Well, he doesn't even know if he thinks the same way about it.

Shall he say goodbye?

No. He can't. Because if he is right in front of him he can not leave anymore. He would be stuck and that is something he definitely should not do. He needs to leave.

It was already difficult to tell Dani and Lucas. It was for their own safety. They wanted to accompany him, but Robin refused.

“When you feel yourself getting weaker, get yourself to the beach. As soon as possible.”

“She wants me, not you. You are safer here.”  
They didn't understand what he meant and it is better that they don't. They shouldn't get involved in his problems.  
It ended in tears and hugs. Like he would already be leaving, but he didn't. It didn't make it less sad.

He wants to see him though. One. Last. Time. He will just hide somewhere and watch and murmurs a goodbye he will never hear.

He gets off his bed, grabs his bag and approaches the door.

Several minutes later he is outside, in the cold air, the wind stroking his cheeks. He inhales deeply. Calm down. You can do it.

He walks.

And that is when he spots him.

With someone else.

She is laughing at something he said while they are in an animated talk. He looks lovestruck at her and he isn't surprised. She has wavy red hair. For the rest he can not see her nor Ant. But he doesn't need anything more. He walks away.

He doesn't see the familiar shell necklace.  
He doesn't see him going down on one knee.

He is already long gone.Ant has been in a blissful state ever since.  
She is beautiful, breathtaking. Ari was a bit started, but to his gratitude, she said yes. He couldn’t have been more happy. Everyone has been in a state of stress around him, but he has a odd sense of calmth. It feels right.

He can't wait.  
Robin goes back and he doesn't know why.  
He feels his body weaken. He knows why. He is changing from the inside, he is slowly turning back. He had to rest several times because he was so tired.

It should repel him. It should encourage him to leave, but it doesn't. He returns because he wants to see it. He might just want to hurt himself more.

He doesn't know, but once he is there, he can't stop watching.

He sees them stepping on the boat. He doesn't see the expression on his face, but he can already imagine it. Full of love.  
Adoration.

It hurts.

That is when he notices.

The familiar necklace adorning her body. The familiar shell. That is when he remembers. It explains everything.

It explains why she was so keen with that necklace, why she wanted him to say heartbreak. She always planned to turn it against him.

He can't let this happen. Because this is not what he wants. This is not what he wants.

He pushes himself up and walks. He will stop this. No matter what it takes. He is slowly falling apart. The pain is agonising. His legs start to bleed. He has cuts everywhere. And the bleeding doesn't stop either. He also has a lack of breath, he just can't breathe.

Then he has an idea.

Go into the water.

So he does. He swims with all his power and holds on to one of the ropes. He shuts the happy voices out of his mind.

He waits. He listens. It is difficult for Robin to hear all that laughter. All that laughter of happiness that isn't genuine, all the fake smiling. They probably are all under the spell.

What a bitch she is.

He almost wants to puke at her vows.

It feels right between us. We do not know each other that well, but I know we are a team. It is fate, and you are my silver lini-

He gasps at the sudden shock of pain and he looks at his legs to see in which state they are.

They are full of scales, the familiar shade of purple and the slight touches of green are staring at him. The water makes them shiny. Normally he would love to see his tail, or at least, the scales. But this is not normal. He hates them. It looks weird. He looks like a monster.

He tries to shrug it away but it doesn't work.

Monster monster monster monster

He is awoken by his thoughts when he hears a familiar voice.

Well, it feels like a voice Robin doesn't know anymore, estranged from them. It is so monotone but it is Ant.

Time is running out.

It is a necessity to react quick.

He pushes himself up the ship, in full agony. His legs are on fire and he can't breathe because of the pain. Getting his legs out of the water cause it. He shouldn't be up there for too long. Only for the necklace.

He pulls and pulls himself up onto the deck. That is when he sees her. A manipulative smile is on her face, and it makes her look ugly even. She doesn't notice him.

This is not going to happen bitch.

That is when Robin stretches himself with all his strength and uses all his strength to yank the necklace of her neck.

He can't see if it worked because that is the moment he falls straight into the water.

For one moment there is only blue blue blue blue blue blue.  
There is only water and little bubbles of air and he feels relieved. There is no pain. He stares at his legs, or rather where his legs used to be. His tail has come back.

He looks at it in pain. It feels a definite end of a chapter. Where he was on land.

Oh god.  
What will Ant think of it?

He will see you as a monster, a voice says in the back of his mind.

No.

He swims towards the air. In that moment he doesn't care what he will think, the most important thing is that he will turn normal. Then Robin will leave, as if nothing happened between them. As if they never met. The chapter is erased.

In such a painful way.

The guests are gone, probably hidden under the deck. He is glad they are. She is gone, or at least she isn't here right now. But then he sees him.

“This is not who you are! This is not you Ant.”  
“You aren't who you said you were. Liar.”  
“Ant… Please. You don't know what you are saying.”  
“I do. I also know that when I say that you were of no importance of me, I mean it.”

This hit Robin hard. This pain is even worse than when he got legs. This is not the pain, unlike the changing, that just goes after a while. This kind of pain is the kind in which you are marked forever with the words. The pain that is etched in your brain and no matter how much you try to cover it up it will be there. It always exists.

Pain is temporary. Words are with you forever.

“And if you were, which you aren't. It will never work.”

He turned his own words against him. And Robin thought it couldn't go any worse.

What have I done?

“I hate you.”

I fucked up.

Robin can't speak. He feels defeated. This is the kind of heartbreak she wanted. His worst scenarios becoming real, things that kept him up at night are reality. He tries to convince himself it is not Ant, this is not the one who looked in curiosity when he said he had six sisters. This is not the one who basically lit up at the cave. This is not the Ant he sees in the dark corners in which they talk and touch.

But it is so hard. It is so hard to believe that when every insult possible is thrown at you, by the person who means so much to you

“Don't be so mean to him.”

Robin is pulled away from his touch when he hears her voice.

“No one should hurt you. What should we do with people who hurt you? We throw them away because that is what you do with people who betray you like that.”

The words didn't reach Robin and he only managed to process what she just said when she had already done it. She threw him away like he was a feather, almost gently falling on a stroke of land.

“This has been your idea all along,” Robin says. He tries to sound calm, but there is so much anger inside him, boiling and boiling and it will be within seconds that he will explode.

“But you got hurt by him. That is not nice of him right?” she says, overly sugarcoated.

“I know how it feels to be betrayed like that. That hurts right? It hurts with your whole body. It leaves an emptiness behind inside you, hollow because all of the things you thought are said out loud. They aren't things you can think about anymore because they are confirmed by the other.  
Humans are unreliable creatures. They are manipulative. They only want three things : sex, money and power. The fact that you are angry is completely understandable. Humans can't be trusted.”

She is manipulating me.

Robin feels his resistance weaken by every word she is saying.

She. Manipulate. Me

He feels like he is giving in to the anger, he feels more numb. He. Can. Not. Fight. It. Anymore.

He. Manipulate. Me.

“Do you want some revenge?”  
When he wakes up, he expects himself to be lying in bed. But he isn't in bed. He is lying on something rock solid, the sea breeze filling his nostrils.

This is not a dream.

What he thought was a dream, is really happening. There is this evil octopus witch and Robin has a tail. Normally he would be fascinated by it, the structure of the scales, the colors.

He remembers everything, everything that happened, everything he said.

Oh god. Oh god. What have I done?

There is no time to think about it.

Robin is approaching Ant quickly and Ant sees his face, his eyes. They are empty, hollow. His eyes look troubled, the normally beautiful blue adorned in grey clouds.

He feels disgusting, because he knows that is how he looked like as well.

And it is frightening.  
He has never felt so scared before. It doesn’t compare to that one time one of his friends said when they should jump off the cliff, to fall in the sea and swim. It doesn’t compare to when an arrow brushes his forehead and when he thought he would actually die.  
This is worse.

It is the kind of fear that is slowly sinking in into your bones. And with one spark, you are so so so afraid and scared. But the most important thing is that you didn’t even know you were so afraid of it happening in the first place. It is caring about something, or someone, and you haven’t noticed that before.

But when it strikes, it strikes hard and mercilessly.

So when his hands embrace his neck, he can not do anything. He is paralyzed to the bone. He lets it happen for a second. He lets the bruising happen.

But that is when the panic strikes. He doesn’t want to die. At least not this way. When he dies, he wants to die when he is old and happy and has made memories of his own and he definitely wants to do that together with the person who is strangling him right now. He desperately grabs his arms, tries to pull them away, because he feels that everything is getting blurry, black spots in the corner of his eyes. He grabs and he crabs and deep inside he knows it is pointless. The more he is trying to resist, the stronger the force on his neck becomes

He is getting desperate and you know what crazy things people can do in a state of desperation.

And this is a desperate situation.

Desperate situations call for desperate measures and he doesn't even know whether he should consider this a measure because this might not even work and his mind is blurry and he can not think straight so he has no idea what is going on inside him.

But it doesn't stop him.

It doesn't stop him from pulling his arms upward around the back of his neck.  
It doesn't stop him from pulling his arms with all his power back to himself, the other one joining the fall.  
It doesn't stop him from connecting their lips.

That is when the mayhem starts.  
It is not a gentle kiss, at least not in the way Ant had dreamt about since forever. He keeps his eyes closed, not only because that is normal to do while kissing, but he doesn't want to see his face potentially fade away into something he isn't, he doesn't want to see his last attempt failing in front of his own eyes.  
The kiss is desperate, it is rough and Robin resists. He tries to pull back, bites Ant his lip, just to get away from it, from the embrace. But Ant doesn't give in, he only pulls him closer to himself. He must win this fight.

And Ant feels the pressure around his neck getting less and less. And it is a trigger. A trigger to kiss harder, more desperate. Their teeth clash, they still bite each other’s lips but the pressure keeps declining and declining and he is happy with it but he needs to continue, to finally push him over the edge and turn back normal.

And suddenly the pressure is gone. There is no lip biting, but the kiss is still full of desperation, hungry. Robin his hands are stroking his neck now gently, like he is apologising.  
Ant carefully removes his arms away from Robin his neck, and for one awful moment he is afraid that it didn't work, that he still is in some sort of trance and will strangle back again. But he doesn't.  
He places his fingers in Robin's wet hair and plays with the strings of hair, like a harp. Together they are a perfect symphony. With his other hand he strokes his body. He stops when he touches the scales for a moment. He feels Robin hesitate, pull back.

“It is beautiful, it is so freaking beautiful,” he whispers.

He leans back in, and he is capturing the lips again and he kisses with such passion, such force. And Robin is slightly startled. He continues to stroke the scales again, gently, like he touches the keys of a piano.

Ant allows himself to lose it all for a moment.

He cherishes the lips, the smell, the feeling of his body on top of him and it is such a turn on and he rather wants to continue with it but he can't.

So he tries to sit back again.

“Shall we catch this bitch?”

Robin slightly smiles.

“Of course.”Distract her.

That is his job.

He has to distract her long enough so that Ant has the possibility to fetch her staff. And he really really wanted to do that. After what she had done to them.

He wouldn't even mind risking his life. He just wants payback.

“HEY YOU IDIOT!”

She turns her body towards him, all her tentacles pointed at him.

“YEAH YOU. YOU UGLY SENILE!”

That is too much for her. She lunges forward with her tentacles but Robin is prepared for it. He throws himself in the water, before any of them could catch him. He impact has been severe. Several pieces of rock fall in the water. He swims away from her, not too far that she will make drastic moves which make it more difficult for Ant, but not too close that he is in her range.

He keeps swimming. Every tentacle is just missing him by an inch or so. The impact of her tentacle hitting the water always gives him an extra wave of speed forward. Away from her.

He doesn't know how Ant is doing, but he is doing his job as good as possible. Robin knows he can't slow down, since the gap between her tentacle and the end of his tail was less than a centimetre last time.

But he knows he can buy time for Ant if he lets himself be caught.

So he lets himself.

The air hits him like ice. Hard, cold, unexpected.

“Finally.”

He should be afraid, but he isn't. He needs to keep himself together to prevent himself from laughing because he would otherwise expose Ant.

“I got you.”  
“Yeah, you got my body, but you don't have my soul. It is free it is independent and not depending on you. Is that what you need? Attention? Someone depending on you?”

He sees Ant climbing towards the tentacle with the staff and Robin knows he should keep talking.

“That is really sad, don't you think? Not the pathetic sad, but like that you need someone else to be happy, to feel happy. I can't imagine how it would feel. You deserve better. You deserve someone who always makes you happy. Someone who can make your heart flutter and can make yourself feel so full. You really deserve it. You did this all to fill up a piece in your heart.”

Ant has the staff. He has his aim ready.

“But there are also people who are too deep into their sadness. People who have sunk so deep in their sadness that they only cause harm to people.”

He nods. That was the sign.

Ant aims and so much green is coming out from the staff.

There is so much green.

Robin knew this would happen.

She throws him away in pure agony and he is waiting for the impact of the water.

He didn't expect he would be hitting rocks.No no no no no

Not this not now.

Ant swims with all his power to the motionless body of Robin. It feels like an eternity but Robin is worth swimming that eternity for.

“No.”

“It is okay, Ant. It is okay. It is because of me. It is because I wanted this. And I dragged you into this.”

“You dragged me into the best time I have had since forever. And even though I was cursed, i shouldn't have said all these things to you. I am so sorry.”

“I am sorry too.”

Robin strokes the marks on Ant’s neck. Ones he made himself.

“It is okay. I love you.”

His eyes flutter shut.

“Hey, you were good for him.”

Ant is surprised by the voice. The source is a fish.

“Sorry, I am Daniel, just call me Dani. I was a friend of Robin’s.”  
“Hey.”

“I know you want to. And you can. He makes you happy.”

They both know where he is talking about.

Ant flutters his eyes shut. He leans in, slowly. He captures Robin's lips, and it has been a touch he ached for for so long. It feels different, since neither of them are cursed. Well, one is knocked out but it just feels right.

Ant pulls back. He looks at Robin one last time, strokes his cheek.

When he turns around, he is faced by a man of considerable height. He sees the resemblance between him and Robin.

“Dani and Lucas told me everything about you.”

Oh god.

“They told me that Robin is so in love with you and it is a mutual feeling I notice. For me it is hard to see, not because you are with my son, but it feels like it is time to let him go. He has grown right now. Based on what they told me, you are worthy of him.”

The man grabs his staff and aims it at Robin.

Everything is yellow.

When everything turns normal again, Robin is wide awake and has legs.

“Oh my god. This is no-”  
“He is happy with you, I need to let him go anyway. It was inevitable.”

Robin looks slightly confused.

“What happened?”

And he is squashed in a tight hug of several people.

“Glad you are back,” they whisper.

“Why do I have legs? The curse was-”  
“I gave them to you,” his father says.  
“Why?”  
“Because you deserve it. You really love him. He loves you and I was just afraid to let you go. But now it is time.”

Robin is speechless.

“You can go.”  
“But I will visit you as often as I can. I will miss you. I will miss you dad. I will miss you Dani. And I will even miss you Lucas. You mean so much to me. You are the best thing that happened to me.  
And alao my sisters.Can you pass that message dad?”

He chuckles. “I will.”


End file.
